Yapalooza, which has been going on for the past four years, is the culmination of many of the communication students’ and faculty’s semester of hard work. C. Turner Wilson, associate professor of communication, headed the event.
“[Yapalooza] is a good practice in a professional context. For example, these people who did the persuasive campaign. They would indeed have pitched this to a company you would want to try and get their business,” Wilson said.
One of the Department of Communication’s own professors, Bette Kauffman, started the Yapalooza with reading of experts from poetry by Langston Hughes. Kauffman was then followed by students who presented projects that contextualized many different communication theories.
During the Yapalooza, other presentations were made, such as a reciting of “From Me to You” by Alycia Hodges, a collection of original poetry, “Fontaine,” a monologue by Whoopi Goldberg performed by Josh Madison and recital of the spoken-word poem “Dear Ex-Lover” by De’Ambria Robinson.
A group of students made a persuasive presentation, discussing different avenues to advertise the Communication Department’s new degree concentration of Communication Advocacy, which will be put in the degree plan starting Fall 2013 semester.
“Communication Advocacy is a concentration that can be for non-profit organizations, profit organizations or something you believe in… It’s basically speaking for someone else who can’t be there to speak for themselves,” said Macky James, a senior communication studies major.
The presentation highlighted many ways the university can advertise the new degree program, such as a flyer and brochure, social media networking and an informational video for any interested students.
Yapalooza ended with a reading by Garrison Griffith, a senior communication studies major, who presented “A Eulogy to My College Years”, a recollection of college memories, lessons learned and advice for those students who still have a while until they graduate.
The department had a short awards ceremony to acknowledge outstanding students in the major.
